Fishy business: kipper rules Boris Johnson blamed on EU are actually British, says Brussels
- Likely next British prime minister held up one of the smoked fish at a Tory leadership conference to try to make a point about ridiculous EU rules
- Johnson claimed the kipper came from the Isle of Man, which is not bound by EU’s food safety regulations
Claims by Boris Johnson that regulations imposed by “Brussels bureaucrats” were damaging the trade in kippers have been debunked by the European Commission, which said the food safety rules he criticised were set by Britain.
Speaking during the final hustings of the Conservative party’s leadership contest on Wednesday night, Johnson held up a plastic-wrapped kipper that had come from a fish smoker on the Isle of Man, who he said was “utterly furious”.
“After decades of sending them through the post like this he has had his costs massively increased by Brussels bureaucrats who are insisting that each kipper must be accompanied by a plastic ice pillow,” said the MP, who said it had been presented to him by the editor of a national newspaper.
“Pointless, pointless, expensive, environmentally damaging ‘elf and safety’,” Johnson declared.
The case described by Mr Johnson falls outside the scope of the EU legislation
However, the European Commission hit back against the claims on Thursday, pointing to British government advice, which stresses foods that need refrigerating must be kept cool while they are being transported – potentially packed in an insulated box with a coolant gel or in a cooling bag.
The commission said that while traders had an obligation to meet microbiological requirements to ensure the safety of food, the sale of products from food businesses to consumers was not covered by EU legislation on food hygiene.
“The case described by Mr Johnson falls outside the scope of the EU legislation and it’s purely a UK national competence, so I hope this is clear and the rules must be checked with the national authorities,” a commission spokeswoman told reporters on Thursday.
“There are strict rules when it comes to fish, but these kinds of rules do not apply to processed fishery products. I’m talking about the temperature case that he was explaining.”
EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukatis tweeted: “Boris, the Isle of Man is not bound to the #EU ‘pointless and damaging’ *red tape* in #foodsafety that we are proud of because it protects consumers. You omitted to say that the Isle of Man is not in the EU. This packaging – #uk competence. Yet another smoke. #fakenews”.
The Isle of Man is not a member of the EU but as a British Crown Dependency, has access to the bloc’s customs union which allows the movement of industrial and agricultural goods.
A government spokeswoman said: “The Isle of Man produces some excellent food and drink. We are delighted to see such interest in our world renowned kippers today.
“At present, our producers are required to comply with relevant Isle of Man legislation. The Isle of Man law is closely based on UK legislation and relevant EU food safety regulations.
“Where our goods are exported they are required to comply with standards of the destination market.”
Britain’s Food Standards Agency was not immediately available for comment.
The producer of the kipper, believed to be Moore’s Traditional Kipper Curers, declined to comment.
To cheers and laughter from the party faithful during the event at the ExCel Centre in London, Johnson appeared to riff on the political nickname for UKIP, once feared by Conservative leaders, telling the crowd: “We will bring the kippers back. It’s not a red herring.”
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
